September saw total air passenger movements increase by 5%, compared with the same month in 2025.
Meanwhile, the island’s ferry links saw stellar growth at the back end of the summer, with a rise of 18% in passengers during September on the UK routes and 29% on the French routes.
The strong monthly performance means the total number of ferry passengers so far this year has grown by 2%, which Guernsey Ports said had exceeded expectations.
‘We have to remember the large increase in ferry passengers we saw from 2024 to 2025, thanks largely to the new routes operated by Brittany Ferries,’ a spokesman said.
‘Our aim in 2026 was to maintain those new inflated numbers seen last year, growing them where possible. The 2% increase for the year-to-date is therefore positive news.’
While the 5% monthly rise at the airport was rather more modest, by contrast its year-to-date statistics rose more than at the harbours. So far this year 547,540 air travellers have passed through the airport, which is 3% up on the previous year.
The routes to and from the UK performed even better, with a monthly increase of 6% driving a year-to-date increase of 4%. London routes continued to perform the most strongly, taken in aggregate, delivering a net increase of 3,689 passengers compared with September 2025. Aurigny continued to carry the vast majority of those London passengers, flying 25,625 people to and from Gatwick and London City over the course of the month. The British Airways Heathrow route handled 6,565 passenger movements during the same month.
Other UK routes were mixed, with Exeter and Southampton up, but Birmingham, Bristol and Manchester all saw declines. Elsewhere the Jersey route continued its recent big gains, with a 21% increase during September.
By contrast, the troubled Alderney service saw a 19% decline on the previous year.
Guernsey’s international links also performed relatively weakly, with both Paris and Dublin seeing lower passenger numbers than during September 2025.